1200, September 3rd 2106, mission accomplished. We arrived at Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Great Britain, after more than 1,300 miles in the saddle. Job done. Our day started with a splendid breakfast laid on by Fiona at the Craiglea Guest House (including a traditional, very salty Scottish porridge). I had posted …

Almost there. Another 87 miles completed. Tomorrow we head for our fourth compass point, and final destination, Dunnet Head. It hardly seems possible that two weeks ago we started out at Lizard Point. Beauly (a lovely little Highland town) was grey, overcast and cool this morning. I again had connectivity issues in getting my blog …

We had our first midgie attack today as we were getting sorted out to depart the Ben View Hotel. They were out in force. When they swarm in such numbers they are almost impossible to deal with. Received wisdom is that ‘Oh So Soft’ is better at keeping them at bay than insect repellent. I …

It is 2235 and I am committing my first words on today’s blog. It will be some combination of a late night / early morning. Doug visited the Oban Distillery yesterday and has tucked me off with a glass of their 20 year old to help me write. But, where to start? It has been …

Every Life Cycle I have been on throws up a perfect day. Weather, terrain, scenery and pace combine to make for a unique cycling experience. When it happens, it lives long in the memory. This time it was Day 12. Because we were late in yesterday, and had a downtown restaurant booked in Dunoon, I …

Good news at breakfast. First, the 99 miles posted for today included six miles on a ferry from Gourock to Hunter’s Quay. That meant we were only cycling 93 miles! Second, despite Stefano’s challenges on the ingredients of the Goat’s Cheese Tart he had for dinner last night, the chef showed up to cook us …

At 0800 the mood in the lobby of the Hallbank Guest House where we stayed last night was sombre. It was raining heavily, cold and blowy. We also knew the toughest of today’s climbing was facing us in the first 30 miles. Out came the wet weather gear and off we went in four groups: …

Steve became a Grandad for the first time this morning . Congratulations to Victoria and Matt on their first child. Steve, it’s a cliché, but true – this will change your life. We also had an unexpected visitor at breakfast, Chris Jagger, who has completed four of the six Life Cycles and been closely involved with …

This is my final Life Cycle, and there have been some rather nice touch points between this and the very first Life Cycle five years ago. For example, on Day 1 we stayed at the Victoria Travelodge near Bodmin, which is where we stayed on the final night of the inaugural Life Cycle. Tonight we …

Another 100 miler, taking our total to 622 miles. In terms of funds raised, we are now over £508,000. Thank you to everyone for your great support. For the second successive day, I managed to post a blog before breakfast, and was able to leave with the others. First out were Doug, Karen, Marion and …

Subscribe by email

About this blog

After the success of the five previous Life Cycle challenges, the Vice-Chancellor has taken to the saddle again to raise funds for breast cancer research. This year the team aim to raise £1 million to support our work into the early detection of breast cancer, stopping it spreading and treating it right.